"Come on, Rubes. I have your favorite!" Lilac eyes appeared merry as she held the basket filled strawberries. The wild blond mane bounced as the girl ran away.
"W-Wait!" Ruby reached out her hand, she didn't want her to ran away, "Don't go so fast!" She tried to grab for the girl, but all she caught was thin air.
And then smoke, just thick black smoke that surrounded Ruby from all sides. She could feel the heat rising and from outside she could hear the panicked screams.
"W-Water!" The young Rose called out as she tried to reach through the smoke with outstretched arms.
But she knew it was futile.
Abruptly, a beautiful angel with snow-white hair and eyes that glowed like diamonds latched her hands on to her outstretched one. The smoke cleared away and made a path for Ruby as she now noticed she was dressed in her Arena attire.
"I want to see you squirm my dear gladiator."
The slave awoke with a start.
Ruby breathed in deep as she shook the tendrils of sleep from her mind. The sun wasn't up yet as it became apparent it was still the middle of the night.
It's been so long since she dreamed about her long lost sister… and it's been many nights now that she has dreamed of a certain Schnee merchant.
The fire dust crystal that lit up her room glowed dimly; she turned her attention to the carvings she had lined up on the windowsill in her otherwise barren room. A carving in the shape of a coin could be seen, pristinely etched into the wood was Vale's emblem, on the reverse side of the coin was a feather and sword crossing together – it was the symbol of the scout who had to be agile and strong as they were often sent alone (and unafraid… mostly) to forge the way for the main body of troops.
Torchwick held on to her actual coin, which she was glad for, as the round metal object was a prized possession for her.
A loud screech of the iron gates could be heard, silver eyes narrowed as she knew that there was no reason for there to be any activity outside just yet, sunrise was still a few hours away as the crescent moon was still high above over head.
"Bring them here." She heard Torchwick's annoyed voice.
Cautiously, she stepped out to the courtyard while remaining in the entryway of the private quarter's section of the slave compound. The slaver, Neo, held a cube the size of her hand, the piece of an earth dust crystal that was shaped into an arrow floated as it remained trained on one of the two slaves that looked worse for wear. Junior held out a second cube with a similar floating piece of earth dust crystal as he stood menacingly over second slave.
'Even if you can get out of the Villa, you can't take the collar off… and those cubes emit a warning sound as soon as you get a certain distance away.' Ruby observed, as she simply stayed silent.
Most slaves knew that the earth dust crystal was the key to removing their collar; they also doubled as a tracker as the crystal would point in the direction of where you were once taken out of the cube and placed on top. Ruby wasn't sure what Roman had set the distance at as she knew the prospects would be tasked to carry heavy logs to the lake and back – that task was meant to increase their endurance as it was a quarter mile there and a quarter back. Maybe it varied, maybe it was adjustable – Ruby wasn't too sure unless she could get her hands on one.
She knew for a fact that each collar had it's own unique cube that paired up with it. She wondered where Roman kept all of his stashed away; she had never seen them out in the open whenever she was in the Villa.
Junior walked with a noticeable limp; in the glow of the fire dust crystal she saw that his breeches were soaked in his blood. Neo had a small cut over her cheek, but what stood out the most was where her free hand was over her abdomen. She had been stabbed in the side as she wore a serious expression.
"Ah Red, so sorry to wake you at this hour." Roman announced. Neo and Junior looked over as the slaves snapped their heads to the gladiator. A few more of Junior's guards surrounded them as well. Ruby recognized the two run away slaves as the new guys that Torchwick had just purchased almost two weeks ago. "Can you grab a sword for me?" Despite the how cheerful he sounded, Ruby knew better as it was apparent Torchwick was beyond pissed.
The gladiator complied as she quickly headed inside, she heard Torchwick bark more orders for Miltiades to be fetched from her home away from the Villa and that Octavia be awakened as well. Ruby knew that only Junior and a few of his men actually lived in the Villa. Sometimes Neo would stay over (as it appeared she was spending another night here since she was out hunting down the run away slaves), but she knew the slaver had her own personal home somewhere in the city.
A gladius that was usually meant for coliseum matches hung on the wall with a few others. The edge was always kept sharp and the metal as clean as possible. Dutifully, she grabbed the sword and headed back out to the courtyard.
She saw Neo being motioned over to the infirmary in the slave compound by Octavia while Junior limped behind the two. The remainder of Junior's men kept a circle around the slaves with their swords pointed at them, it was unnecessary as the two run away slaves were in shackles at this point and were forced into kneeling. The tracker cubes were both held by Roman as he stood over the slaves.
"You stabbed both my slaver and personal guard." Roman seethed; he shoved the cubes into the Reaper's arms and grabbed the sword from her. "And you both ran away from home, do you know how that makes me feel?"
"Fuck your feelings!" The slave snapped back at the man.
Roman thrust the gladius forward and buried the tip into the slave's gut. Ruby assessed it as a non-fatal wound – but if it got infected, that would be a different story.
Unexpectedly, the second slave jumped at the sword in an attempt to help his friend. Both of his shackled hands reached out as he made a grab for the hilt of the sword
It happened quickly, before the second slave could even grab the sword in Roman's hand, the surrounding guards already jumped forward.
Three swords skewered him as they protruded from his chest, abdomen, and back. The slave paused, as if perplexed at his current predicament – it was obvious his mind was still trying register what exactly had happened to his body. Like a small creek flowing through a forest, his lifeblood came leaking out of his new orifices. One by one the swords were extracted and the creek became a river.
His shackled hands reached for the side of his mouth, once he pulled them away his eyes went wide in shock at how stained in red they were. With a final glance at his friend, his whole body went limp. The slave master smiled at the pool of blood that was beginning to gather beneath the body.
"Agil!" The other slave cried out, Roman proceeded to twist the tip of the blade a bit, which caused the man to grunt in pain. "You… bitch!" He was red in the face.
A twitch was seen in the slave master's left eye, "Wrap up his wound and throw him on the first slave transport to Atlas – Jacques sent word that they found a new dust mine in the far north and are in need of more hands – apparently they're running into the issue of their slaves getting frostbitten."
One of the guards nodded his head, "The price?"
"I don't give a damn, just make sure he ends up in that ice box." Torchwick bent over the man, "You and your buddy were just thieves, it was a simple 7 year sentence as a slave and all would be fine."
"You don't even know how hard it is outside the kingdom, between trying to properly raise the land and paying tax for the guard to stick around and keep wandering Grimm out – they've raised the tax so many times the past few years for this fucking war. Of course we would have to resort to some underhanded means to make ends meet!" The slave gasped as the sword tip was removed from his gut.
The slave master shrugged, "I'm not the one who got caught in the end dear Henry…" He crossed his arms as he pondered for a bit, "If memory serves, you have a wife out there… I think her name was Paula, was it not? You have a farm in your name south-west of the kingdom… Higabana!" Torchwick snapped his fingers, "It's a nice place, it's been a long time since I've visited – perhaps I should arrange a trip soon."
"N-No…" Henry stuttered as his eyes went wide with fright, "You leave her out of this." He threatened under his breath, "I will fucking kill you if you do anything to her!"
Ruby looked on sympathetically towards the man.
Roman smirked as he motioned for the guards to take the man away to the docks of Mistral.
"Oh wait!" Torchwick called for the guards to stop, he turned to Ruby and grabbed the two cubes in hand and the gladius was placed in her hand. One cube's earth crystal pointed towards the dead man while the other at Henry's collar. Roman grabbed the floating crystal and inserted it into a slit on the collar, the collar released itself and Roman grabbed it. A clip holder was revealed on the bottom of the cube and Roman attached the collar there.
Another guard appeared with a regular handcuff that went around Henry's neck, the shackles were attached to that as well as his hands and feet to limit his mobility to a strangled walked.
Ruby observed her master repeated the same action on the dead slave's collar.
Roman caught her staring, "Don't get any funny ideas now Red," He grabbed the earth dust crystal used for the dead slave's collar and walked behind Ruby.
He inserted the earth crystal into her collar.
Only for Ruby to immediately feel it constrict around her neck. She began gasping for air as the collar tightened around her. Roman pulled out the earth crystal.
"Go to bed, Red. You got to help train up Bolin and Nadir for their pair match together in a few days. They managed to capture three Ursas for them to face off against in the Taming of the Beast event." Torchwick wore a smug grin as he left the slave on the ground; the collar began to loosen – very slowly.
Ruby had almost passed out from the whole ordeal.
"650 gold lien down the fucking drain." Torchwick seethed as he crunched the numbers, 'If those two boneheads don't pull a fucking win in a few days, we're going to be in trouble.' He had to pay everyone's salary at the end of the month, which was a week from now.
And there was the fact that he had taxes to pay to the local collector very soon as well.
If push comes to shove he could omit the cooking staff for a month or two and maybe a few of Junior's men, but he couldn't skip out on Neo, the Malachite twins, and Junior himself – it would cause too much strain on their relationship (especially if he withholds their pay after being stabbed by those two insolent slaves) and he would lose some credibility as well.
He paced about the office alone, he had a reputation to uphold and it wouldn't do him any good if anyone found out about this financial mess that he was teetering into.
'Those two better fucking win,' Roman thought to himself, he decided to up his bet with the local casino in town – to help cover the losses of the two slaves he had recently purchased. 'I might have to throw two of the prospects into the Arena… but they're risky to bet on individually – maybe put them together in another Taming of the Beast event with those with a few arena experiences under their belt…. I will probably lose one or two depending on what beast Cinder has lined up…'
The slave master went to work again as he grabbed an empty scroll to write on.
"Ruby!" Sun's voice echoed off the walls of the private quarters area, Nadir and Bolin were still out in the courtyard training together to get ready for the event in a few days. The Reaper was currently relaxing as she worked on the finishing touches for the Beowulf carving.
Ruby looked up at her friend as she set down the craving and whittling knife, she hadn't seen her friend since yesterday evening when Lady Dew Gayl came for a visit. "What's up?" She raised a brow at Sun's slight disheveled look – that just fucked type of look.
"They're releasing you guys!" Sun reported triumphantly.
What?
The Faunus must be speaking a different language.
"Releasing… us?" Ruby slowly repeated.
Sun shook his head as he took a moment to catch his breath, "I heard from Lady Gayl, Mistral and Vale are releasing their prisoners of war!"
Ruby Rose became still as stone.
The words were definitely in a different language, as the young gladiator couldn't comprehend what they meant.
"What in Oum's name are you talking about?" She blurted out, bewildered by her friend in front of her.
The Faunus burst out into a huge smile as he wrapped his arms around Ruby's waist and lifted the gladiator into the air.
"You're. Going. To. Be. Free." He spelled out as he twirled her around.
The Monkey King's smile grew twice in size as he watched those silver orbs light up in absolute joy.
"You're fucking kidding me? Right?" She still couldn't believe him.
Sun shook his head as he spun the girl he considered to be a sister around in a circle, "No! This is real! Commander Arc was declared a free man as soon as Councilman Oobleck released the decree! He's going to help facilitate the release of all the prisoners!"
Ruby broke out into laughter as she clutched onto the Faunus. Sun mirrored it as he began to laugh jovially as well.
The room seemed so much brighter, despite the fact that evening would be setting in soon. The colors of her once dreary room looked vibrant and seemed to glow. She felt as if she were the great Oum himself with this news.
"Sun! I'm going to be free!" Ruby exclaimed between her fits of laughter.
And like an Ursa's heavy strike, it hit her.
Two years and she could finally be free.
She could finally go home to her small cottage right outside of Vale, where she lived down the street from fellow comrades-in-arms Ren and Nora. She would finally be able to go to the market and pick out the fresh strawberries and other fruits that Ms. Peach grew in her garden.
"Sun…" The girl's voice broke, her silver eyes burned red with tears that began to spill, "I'm going home."
"Yeah, you're going home." Sun set the smaller girl down and wrapped her up in his embrace, "You're getting out of here."
"I'm going home." The gladiator mumbled into Sun's shirt, tears running down her face uncontrollably. The Faunus sat down on the bedding and allowed the smaller slave to cry, it brought back memories of Ruby's first few weeks at the Villa – before she became the Reaper - she was just someone who was trying to figure out what to do in her current disposition.
"It's been two years now, huh?"
"Yeah, it has."
Ruby smiled, she was truly going to go home soon.
"It is with great pride that I welcome you all into the ranks of Vale's great army."
A battalion of brand new soldiers stood in a tight formation before the Beacon Tower, on the balcony of the great tower stood the great King. Their forest green theme was apparent as they stood in their shiny and brand new armor.
"However, it is also with a heavy heart that I may one day have to ask the impossible from each and everyone of you to support and defend our great lands. Despite how peaceful it seems now, I must remind everyone that there is always turmoil and strife boiling beneath the surface – forces of evil we may not always see, but must remain vigilant to in order to defend the Kingdom of Vale." King Ozpin went on as he looked over the faces of all the young soldiers.
"I wish you Oum's speed and good will." Ozpin drew his great silver sword from by his side and raised high above the masses before him, "Long live Vale!" He shouted.
"Long live Vale!" Ruby had her sword drawn in her right hand, for ceremony purposes, "Long live the King!" Her voice thundered together with the men and women that surrounded her.
She beamed brilliantly among the ranks of the Valesian soldiers, for the first time the orphan truly felt a part of something.
Today, Ruby Rose was 16 years old and she received her first assignment after enlisting into the Valesian Army. She decided on trying to become a scout, an unsung hero that would be tasked to forge ahead of the main body to blaze a path to safety for everyone else, as well as ascertaining the enemy's position for tactical battle plans.
Her drill instructor was a former scout who fought in the 5-year war against Atlas (they tried to expand their territory into the island of Vytal and a portion of the Sanus continent, it ended in Atlas being ousted and a peace treaty being signed, this took place before Ruby was born)
The home garrison that Ruby Rose had been assigned to was located on the water's edge of Kingdom, a short boat ride to the island of Patch.
"Welcome to the 127th Brigade," The man before her stood in front of 15 new soldiers.
The 127th wasn't nearly as famed as the other Brigades in the 2nd Division, mainly the 90th Brigade led by Commander Jaune Arc – the Shield of Vale who was famed for taking his brigade and ousting pirates from the island of Patch. The 127th was in fact smaller in size as they were considered a quick reaction type of force, usually sent in first to any conflict to survey the lands and adversary before a much bigger brigade (like the 90th) could come in and clean up the mess.
"I am Sergeant Lie Ren, I fall under 3rd Battalion's Seeker Company – however, I've been tasked to help sort you new guys into your proper Battalions and Companies." He paced the line of new troops, Ruby recalled that 3rd Battalion was considered the light cavalry and famed for their high deployment tempo – all their companies were equipped with light armor and gear as they were often tasked to forge ahead and clear a path for the rest of the Brigade.
"Who is Private Ruby Rose?" Sgt. Ren called out.
Rose raised her hand promptly.
A few whispers could be heard.
"Isn't 3rd Battalion known as 'certain death'?"
"They're low in numbers for a reason – but they rank up quickly because of how many 'vacancies' they go through."
"I'll give her two weeks into our first deployment."
Ren coughed loudly to quell the whispers, "Go ahead and follow Corporal Valkyrie, you'll be in the same unit as us. I'll be sure to properly introduce myself once everyone is settled in."
Private Rose nodded as she looked towards the orange haired girl who grinned maniacally at her. Despite the crazed grin, Ruby could sense how Corporal Valkyrie seemed to be a good person.
Ruby looked down at the carving in her hand, the carving of her coin she had made when she was first allowed to start whittling by her benevolent master.
She recalled being handed her actual coin by the Commander Port after passing 127th Brigade's scout test. There were two others that passed it with her and Ruby remembered beaming so proudly after receiving the coin.
A light snore could be heard, Ruby smiled at her older brother figure – in fact she considered Nadir and Bolin to be brothers as well. Like a child, she fell asleep into the Faunus' arms and Sun had complied by lying there with her, as to not disturb her.
The gladiator grabbed the blanket and pulled it up to the Faunus' chin.
She looked back down at the carving of her coin
"That was sick!" Nora exclaimed as she watched Ruby finished sailing through the air and then burying her sword into the Creep Grimm that had tried to blind side the pair.
They were forward deployed to the Vacuo and Vale border to quell some conflict with bandits that had arisen in the small towns that straddled the border. 3rd Battalion
This was Ruby's first deployment as a scout, Nora was paired off with her on her first official scouting assignment to show her the ropes.
"Thanks!" Ruby chirped back as she put her sword back in its scabbard.
"You're so quick!" Nora commented, "How do you move like that?"
The scout shrugged as she fixed the forest green cape clasped around her shoulders, she wore light armor that was still free blemish and scratches. Proudly clasped to her right side, which helped hold the cape in place was the Valesian emblem.
"I grew up an orphan, and food wasn't always the best – if you wanted the good stuff you had to take it from the food vendor stalls. You had to be quick if you didn't want to get caught." Ruby joked as they continued their route.
"But you move like a blur! And then all the flips and twists! You'd be a slippery one to take in a fight." The orange headed scout that was dressed in a similar fashion did a tuck and roll, Ruby could see that her armor had some stories to tell from the different scuffs and marks that decorated it. Instead of a sword, she had a war hammer that was about 3 feet long attached at the hip; the other side of the head had a sharp pick attached to it.
Ruby could only imagine how gory the Valkyrie's fights could be, despite the cheerful demeanor she wore.
They were looking for anything out of the ordinary; there were reports of bandits in the area from the local town that they had forward deployed to.
From a couple yards away, Ruby saw a few apples hanging from a tree.
"Dibs!" Ruby yelled as she ran to the fruit tree.
Before she could even grab the fruit, she heard a scuffle from behind.
Nora was held at sword point and two more bandits came out of the brush from behind.
The two flanking bandits had their swords held at the ready – they were prepared to impale her friend from behind.
And then all she saw was red.
The gladiator closed her eyes as she tried to remember, but she never could. They say you never forget your first kill, but for Ruby – it all happened so fast. It was an ethereal experience as her body simply moved on it's own.
Needless to say, she and Nora were able to make it back to the main forces and report the encounter. It would take a few more months to really clean up the area before Commander Port of the 127th Brigade gave the order to return to home garrison.
Ruby smiled fondly as this would mark the time she would buy her own little cottage right outside of town. Ren and Nora owned a home about an eighth of a mile down the road, they knew the previous owner and was able to help Ruby get the place at a cheaper price.
At 17 years old she finally had a place to call her own.
The lush forests that surrounded her, the noises of the birds that were settled in the trees, the faint hustle and bustle of the Kingdom could be heard if you listened closely.
"You've done well to fix up the place." Ren commented, he was dressed in his casual jade green tunic that buttoned diagonally and white breeches that were tucked into his leather boots. At his hip were his two weapons that were sickle-like blades, like Nora's war hammer, it was a unique weapon to him.
"I love the rose bushes you have out in front, did you get them from Ms. Peach?" Nora was dressed in her casual attire of a rose pink skirt and a white tunic, like Ren, she carried her weapon with her.
"Yeah, thanks for coming over for dinner tonight!" Ruby motioned the two into her humble cottage. The entry way led to a wide-open space, the kitchen was off to the left while the rest of the space was filled with a table and some chairs. The place was still pretty empty, as Ruby had just settled in. There were two doors that led to Ruby's bedroom and washroom area. "How was the walk over? Was it too hot?" She noticed the sun was out all day.
"Not at all, it was beautiful weather." Ren sat down the basket he carried over which revealed a fresh loaf of bread that Nora had gone to work making earlier.
From the stove, Ruby grabbed the beef stew she had been cooking for the past hour.
In the oven a sweet smell began wafting through out the cottage, filling the air.
Nora took a deep breath of the delectable scent, "Is this your famous cookies you've been telling me about?"
"Yup!" The young scout exclaimed, "They should be done by the time we finish eating, I got some milk from town too. So you both are in for a treat." She beamed.
"Well, I look forward to it. And thank you again for your hospitality Ruby." Ren smiled as he took a seat at the table. His weapon he put aside by the front door, right next to where Ruby kept her sword.
Nora did the same with her war hammer before taking a spot next to Ren, "The stew smells amazing – you should come over when Ren makes a roast! The way he cooks meat is magical, practically melts in your mouth!" She salivated at the thought, "You really should Renny, and it's been so long since we've had a roast."
"I usually save that for special occasions." Ren shrugged, "It takes some time to prepare, and I have to get just the right cut from the butcher in town."
"C'mon Renny! I think Ruby completing her first deployment is just the right occasion." The redhead pleaded again.
Ren smiled as his shoulders sighed in defeat, "Alright, I'll go into town tomorrow and see what the butcher has available."
"Woohoo! Ya hear that Ruby? We're gonna feast like royalty soon!"
Ruby took the last place at the dinner table as the stew was placed in the center, "I can't wait, and I'll bring over some of my cookies too."
Ruby Rose looked over her friends and then her cottage.
"What's up, Ruby?" Ren noticed the distant look on his friend's face.
The young scout snapped out of her thoughts as she noticed her two guests staring at her, with a smile she cleared her head as she searched for the words to answer Ren's question, "It's just… I used to have a family, but I was so young when I lost them – so I've always had trouble trying to remember what it felt like to be a part of one." She smiled sheepishly, "But I'm sure you both can relate as well." Ruby was slightly embarrassed, as she knew that both of her friends were orphans as well.
"But we had each other." Nora beamed towards Ren as she placed a hand over his, "I've followed Ren where ever he went, I even enlisted with him."
"And threw a big fit when we weren't in the same unit." The Sergeant chided lightly with a big grin.
Her sky blue eyes looked into Ruby's, "So… what do you feel now?"
"I think this is what it felt like - this, right here and right now."
This was the first time in what seemed to be forever that the orphan truly felt at home.
A home that she would give anything to keep.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Commander Arc." A bespectacled man dressed in refined robes walked about his office. Councilman Bartholomew Oobleck extended his hand to the now free Commander. "Albeit, I'm sure these circumstances are slightly awkward."
"We take pride in our professionalism as soldiers, we train to be the absolute best… and we know when it's time to stand down for the better of the country. I'm just glad that King Ozpin has kept the best interest of the people in mind." Jaune Arc shook the Councilman's hand.
"If it means anything, I casted my vote for no official declaration of war against Vale." Councilman Oobleck stated.
Pyrrha smiled at the man as the two simply nodded, she stood off to the side at window to observe the view from Oobleck's office. Not many had the opportunity to traverse up the top of the Mistrali Twin Mountains that the Grand Palace was built upon. The beautiful of the city below was breath taking, the summer sun shone down on the cobblestone streets of the kingdom and she could see the wall that extended around the city.
They were erected to keep the Grimm out.
She turned her attention to Jaune Arc, dressed in a theme of forest green, black, and gold. He dressed in black breeches that were tucked into leather boots. He wore a white tunic that was embroidered in gold and a signature forest green cape that was clasped together by the Valesian emblem. At his waist hung the Valesian style long sword.
A certain air of authority hung around Jaune as he stood before the Councilman.
"I'm glad you were willing to accept my proposition to help facilitate the release, I'm hoping that it will show good public relations between the two countries to help ease any qualms that the Mistrali citizen may have against Vale – as well as vice versa." Oobleck explained as he looked over the Commander.
"I would be more than happy to assist, I know a fair amount of my men from my own personal Company was captured… I only hope that everyone is still alive to see the way home." Jaune thought to his most trusted friend who had died in the arena at the hand of the Reaper. "This will be bittersweet once we start going down the line…" He had to mentally prepare himself – he knew the conditions that some of these slaves were kept in.
He considered himself one of the lucky ones.
"And I'll be more than happy to lend my assistance as well. We have a lot of people who work under us that could help out with the process too." Pyrrha piped in.
Jaune looked over Pyrrha, she was once a complex adversary on the battlefield who pressured him and his soldiers on the front lines into a tactical retreat – now he looked to her as a fellow comrade-in-arms who possessed the same noble warrior spirit that Jaune's father had instilled into him. "I would like that a lot."
Councilman Oobleck flicked his eyes between the two, a slight grin could be seen on his face, "Well, with that – let's get some formalities out of the way. I've already done an official inquiry at the Office of Official Records; it will take them another 3 days to compile a proper list and everyone's official documentation. Part of this is to ensure that any one who isn't a legitimate prisoner of war doesn't get a free pass." He sighed at the thought; he knew that all slaves weren't thieves, murderers, or other criminals that were thrown into the slavery system. Then there was the people carted off who couldn't pay back loans properly.
Or the young children that could be sold into the system by families in poverty.
"That sounds fantastic." Jaune exclaimed, "I really appreciate that sentiment that the Council has done."
"Oh no, don't thank me – it was Lady Nikos' idea, after all." He motioned to the woman who stood next to the Valesian Commander.
"Was it?" His blue eyes looked over to Pyrrha's jade ones, "I think that's something she forgot to mention when she told me of the prisoner's release."
"I – I thought it was only fair. No one wishes for war, but those who were called upon fought valiantly in my eyes." She seemed a tad bit shy around her Valesian counter part.
"Thank you, really. Thank you, so much."
The Reaper's stride seemed lighter and her sword much more precise as she danced around Bolin and Nadir's tandem attacks. She raised her shield to block Nadir's heavy blow, she had to really put her back into it to make sure the Wilding didn't take her off her feet.
A flash of blond appeared from behind her, with two swords in hand a heavy blow was poised for Nadir's head. The Wilding jumped back to avoid the blow from the Faunus. Bolin returned the favor in kind as he jumped off of Nadir's back and went sailing over his partner.
The Wilding smiled at the eldest gladiator's antics, Bolin always knew how to keep things interesting – just not too interesting. Sun raised both his swords to block the hit, Sun staggered back under the hit, he nearly lost grip on his swords from the sheer power behind that stunt.
Bolin was blind sided by Ruby as she rushed in with her shield held at the ready; the man tumbled off to the side. Before Ruby could capitalize on the opportune moment, Nadir was quick to come to his partner's aid – but Sun rushed at him before he could meet with Ruby. This provided Ruby enough time to cross swords with Bolin who barely got up to a kneeling position.
The youngest gladiator smiled at the eldest one; there was an absolute thrill that filled her very being, instead of the usual feeling of survival and just carnal instinct. Her mind was clear and her body had never felt nimbler. She spun around to break contact with Bolin's sword, being left-handed in the arena had it's perk as her sword came down on Bolin's unprotected side.
Usually this would catch other gladiators off balance, in the arena her opponent may lose an arm with this move.
But Bolin knew her tricks as he twisted his torso to bring his shield across and barely catch the edge of the blade with side of his shield.
Meanwhile, Sun was relentless in his combinations as he expertly wielded both swords. They seemed to be flying through the air as his swords went left over right over left and then both swords coming across where Nadir's head had been just a split second ago. The wilding was running out of room to back up in to, as Sun didn't pause to give Nadir a moment to regain his footing.
In a true Wilding fashion, he dropped his shield in order to catch Sun's wrist to stop the sword strike. The Monkey King was hasty to bring up his free arm to try to land a thrust on Nadir's side, but the Wilding was quick, (as well as the most experienced in wrestling) and grabbed hold of his other hand while dropping his remaining weapon.
It was a cardinal rule to not lose your weapons in the Arena, but Nadir often bent this rule.
In a battle of brute strength, Sun was sure to lose as he struggled to remain upright. The Faunus knew that as soon as they hit the ground, Nadir could easily subdue him – he's seen the Wilding break a man's neck with his bare hands.
Ruby continued exchanging sword strikes with Bolin when she caught sight of Sun struggling. She watched as Bolin charged straight at her, she dug the tip of the sword into the sand and proceeded to flick the tip skyward as a cloud of dust blinded Bolin.
Taking those precious moments before the temporarily subdued gladiator could recover, Ruby rushed in with her shield raised as fast as she could. Nadir didn't see it coming as he was practically plowed off of his feet – Ruby had thrown her whole body weight into the charge. Sun stumbled back a few steps as he watched Ruby scramble to pick her self off the ground before Nadir could recover. He spotted his swords in the sand; with some well-rehearsed footwork he kicked up the sword handles and caught them easily in the air.
He felt Ruby press up against his back; Sun didn't have to take a second guess that Bolin was coming in for more, as Nadir was quick to pick up his discarded sword.
He loved these mock battles that they would do together.
Torchwick watched from his office on the second floor at his Core Four of gladiators, he smiled as they looked to be in top form and well recovered from the lashings they had received over a month ago.
"Quite the tall order you've requested, Roman." A woman was dressed in a light maroon summer dress that hung over one shoulder. Her ashen colored hair was worn in playful light curls and her amber eyes glowed in humor at her long time friend's predicament.
Roman sighed as he rubbed his temples, "I don't ask for help often, but I need it. I ended up owing more in taxes than I initially thought and the debt collector showed up a month earlier than expected." Another sigh, it was just the two of them in the office as Roman asked for privacy from everyone. "I've always been loyal to the Fall family."
"How much more did you end up owing?" Cinder Fall inquired, "With the war over and the soldiers coming home, we have to pay the troops for their valiant service."
"About 3 times more." Torchwick seethed, he was not happy with his financial predicament at all – he wasn't sure how well he would fare after the next two months, "This is fucking senseless, I shouldn't have bought those damn slaves in the first place." Roman sighed at the lost investment.
"Why not sell back your other prospects?" Cinder suggested, he had slaves to spare… but Roman Torchwick was never known to sell slaves in the first place. She knew how important appearances and relations were to the slave master.
Roman growled, "Do you know how long it usually takes before I let those fools into the arena and to top it off, usually 2 out of 3 prospects die in their first arena appearance." He knew the math and statistics very well at this point, that's why once he gets champions like his Core Four, and he did everything he could to keep them in his inventory. "It costs money, but most importantly time, to get slaves to that level of physical prowess and discipline – I won't ruin a long-term investment for a short-term pit fall."
"And that Bolin kid, you're letting him go soon." The Fall heiress thought aloud, "You wouldn't sit well with the public if you redacted his 'Match for Freedom' at this point." It was highly publicized in order to fill the seats, Bolin Hori's final match in the Arena.
"No… no it would not." Roman sighed, "I need you to do this for me, please."
Cinder thoughtfully looked down at the courtyard at the gladiators who had degraded to some playful wrestling in the sands. Her eyes lit up when she saw the Reaper and Bolin laughing at the antics of the Faunus and Wilding. She couldn't recall the last time (if ever) she's seen the Reaper actually smile let alone laugh; usually a stoic mood was always about her.
She didn't like the look one bit.
"But Red looks so happy." Sarcasm laced her every word, Roman smiled as he recognized it. She turned and faced her friend, "I have a few conditions: What ever your royalties are for Bolin's final match – you forfeit all of it to me."
"And by royalties, you mean just the regular-"
"All of it, including your what ever you gamble your gladiator." Cinder smirked, "I'm friends with the bookkeeper – just in case you've forgotten."
"Way to rub the salt right on in there." The slave master reeled, "Fine, I'll do it – I'll just have to make up for it with Red once she gets back into the arena."
"And two more requests: you let my champion Mercury live when he faces off against Bolin," Cinder already knew how well her slave Mercury would stack up against Bolin, she knew talent when she saw it. A cunning smile replaced her lips as Cinder Fall looked out the window to look over her favorite slave to play with, "And I want some fun time with Red – free of charge of course."
Roman shrugged as he made a mental note on those requests, "When will you be able to get those documents?"
Cinder pondered, "Tonight, I know the guards who work the night shift – I'll send Emerald to go get them." Emerald Sustrai was her personal bodyguard, but her services didn't end there.
"Perfect."
The Villa was a stark contrast to Roman Torchwick's bright and vibrant color schemes – the interior was decorated in several whites, blues, silvers, and some specks of red that stood out against the marble and stone. It was orderly.
In the private office, there was a tapestry hung up on the wall behind the great oak desk – it was a dark blue background with a snowflake motif on it. The official emblem of the Schnee Merchant Company.
Weiss Schnee had her hair up in a ponytail as she poured over the different account records – business was booming for the Schnee Merchant Company. The summer in Mistral was brutal in comparison to Atlas; the light summer dress was beginning to cling to her like a second skin from all the sweat. One side of the office had floor to ceiling arches with the door open to the Villa's courtyard. Weiss enjoyed the view of the courtyard that had a beautiful garden and a few trees decorating the area. She spotted the wooded box that contained the training equipment that was available for the few gladiators they had purchased.
She supposed she'd have to ask Klein or the house slave to put it away since it will be awhile before they're used again.
The Schnee sat back in her chair for a quick mental break; she closed her eyes as she wiped her brow. The last time she was this sweaty was when…
Silver eyes that stared her down like a predator looking at its prey flashed into her eyes. She could almost feel the touch of the gladiator's hands running down her body, the taught muscles at Weiss' fingertips, and Ruby's lips on hers.
"Oh Oum." Weiss sighed as she knocked back the rest of the water in her cup, "I need to get my head out of the clouds."
"Master Schnee, you have a visitor. It's Lady Adel and Lady Scarlatina," The house slave mentioned as she motioned to the parlor.
Weiss looked up at her house slave. She took pity on her as soon as she saw her in the slave market about 3 months ago. The poor Faunus was withdrawn and robotic, Weiss wasn't sure what kind of horrors she had gone through or seen.
Blake Belladonna was covered in bruises and beaten bloodied to the point where she was being sold below the regular market value for slaves. From what Weiss learned, she was a wandering thief that had gotten caught.
Faunus resorting to thieving wasn't unheard of – their kind had a harder time trying to thrive outside of their tropical island of Menagerie, in fact their kind was heavily discriminated against all together. She had heard rumors that the Kingdom of Vale was a bit kinder to the Faunus race, however Weiss didn't know for sure as she had never visited Vale.
There was some bad blood between Atlas and Vale after the territory war, but this was before Weiss' time. As far as the company goes, Jacques had no intentions of starting a branch company in that kingdom.
"Blake, thank you." Weiss was courteous, "Please bring out some water and wine." The slave was about to step off and fulfill the request, "And feel free to join us, Coco and Velvet have taken a liking to you." A small smile.
Blake nodded, "Yes, Master Schnee" She was curt and to the point as she stalked off.
Weiss sighed; she would have to patient with this one.
Blake Belladonna was dressed in a fine light summer dress; her long midnight hair flowed through the light summer breeze. Golden like specs looked to the right at the gorgeous weather outside, despite the heat she could easily see her self curling up beneath the shade of the trees and reading a good novel.
If she were still a free woman.
Blake wanted something more in life, something like the adventures she had read in her novels, something like the stories she had heard of the other kingdoms while growing up on Menagerie. She would often times spend countless hours dockside hearing stories and tales from the shipmasters that sailed the seas. They would spin tales about grandiose tropical jungles and wide deserts of Vacuo, the majestic prides of lions that would stalk the sands and trees. The sweeping forests of Vale and their penchant of sleepy small towns that surrounded the great Kingdom, stories of the great King Ozpin and how he was a war hero during the territory wars. The cold and frozen tundra of Atlas, how they have built a shining and innovated kingdom out of the ice and snow.
And then there was the Kingdom of Mistral, the city of heroes and great pleasures of success. More often than not the shipmasters and sailors would liken Mistral as one of their favorite places, they would tell of its fun and opportunity that was available to anyone with the coin available. But most of all, it was the stories of the gladiators – more often than not it would be slaves fighting for redemption once more. Or more notably it would be brave volunteers who would dare to seek eternal glory that waited for them in Mistral's Great Stone Coliseum.
The Faunus sighed as she looked back out at the alluring call of the shade of the tree; it was the stories of heroes and great glory that enticed her the most. Mistral had sounded the most adventurous of them all.
She didn't expect any of the danger… or discrimination that lay boiling underneath the gilded city.
A hand ran across the collar around her neck absent mindedly, it was a reminder of what she had lost and now craved, 'Perhaps it would have been best if I had stayed in Menagerie.' The thought crossed Blake's mind as she saw the two guests in view. She shook herself of the thought immediately.
'I have things that still need to be done. I can't leave, not now.'
With a well-trained smile she greeted Lady Adel and Lady Scarlatina to come further into the Schnee Villa.
The great Death Stalker nimbly darted left, dodging the deadly arc of the weapon in front of it. The great golden stinger above him lashed out at the assailant in an attempt to puncture a whole in the man's chest.
The Hunter was much too quick for that as he did an impressive flip backwards to avoid the stinger. A charming smile could be seen on the man's face; with dexterous hands he spun his great scythe around in an attempt to decapitate the stinger. His armor favored speed and mobility as he only wore some leather vambraces and a dark gray padded armor coat with a high collar, the top two buttons were let loose. The black loose shirt underneath was covered in sweat as his black breeches were tucked into his black leather boots. His red eyes darted about as it kept its gaze trained on the tail.
His deep red cloak flourished with his movements as he attempted to strike out at the Death Stalker.
Sensing the danger, the tail was snapped back to avoid the weapon once more. What it didn't expect was a second Hunter to be there.
Qrow Branwen smirked to himself as he watched his niece come literally flying out of a nearby jungle tree with her great sword over head. The long brown coat had a high collar around her neck, the signature feature was that she wore it with short sleeves, underneath the coat the Huntress wore some light armor plates and a loose orange shirt that was often seen as she kept her coat only buttoned half way. She wore black breeches like her uncle that were tucked into brown leather boots that went all the way up to her calf. She swung the sword down on the Death Stalker's stinger.
If one could call the 5 foot sharpened hunk of metal a sword.
The sword easily cut through scale like armor of the Death Stalker's tail, the stinger easily getting sliced off. Before the Grimm could even retaliate from the unexpected attack, Yang Xiao Long had already maneuvered the sword point mid air; the blade was poised for the creature's head as she came falling back to earth.
Qrow whistled low as he set the scythe on his shoulder, the creature went limp as black dust could be seen starting to drift off into the wind. His niece kept a firm grip on the great sword and easily lifted it off the ground. On her back, she had a custom-made leather strap holder for the thing, and not many people (even men alike) had the strength to wield the sword – let alone carry it around.
It should also be noted that she definitely no slouch without the weapon either, on both hands she wore specialized gauntlets that had a unique feature. If you were to find out about this unique feature, then it was likely it would be the last new thing you learned in life.
"I'm pretty sure you get the inhuman strength from your Father." Qrow commented as he surveyed the area, "I think that was the last one."
"You sure? I was getting the hang of actually taking out these little guys." A cheeky grin was sported on her face. Yang flipped her long blond mane off of her shoulder as she stretched out a bit, "But I wouldn't mind for some rest."
"You and me both, a bath at the Inn in town would be fantastic." Qrow yawned as he started to head towards the direction towards town, "We'll let the town mayor know that we cleaned up their Grimm problem, then we'll head into Vacuo and collect our award there." It was common practice for Huntsmen; they carried a license that was good for international travel between the four kingdoms. There would be a Huntsmen Base at every kingdom – a huntsmen simply needed to walk in, see what bounties or job offers were available, lay claim to it, and then go out and do it. Whoever requested the job would also give the proper paperwork that allowed the travelling Huntsmen to collect the bounties once they went back into the kingdom.
Huntsmen were known to have no formal allegiance to any of the kingdoms, their duty and service was for Remnant itself. Their job was some times thankless, mostly by the government officials just because Huntsmen had no formal allegiance to kingdoms and therefore could not be called into war (something Yang and Qrow both liked), but most times the citizens themselves were more than happy to show their gratitude to the huntsmen whenever they came into town.
Yang's eyes squinted as they came to the edge of the jungle, they had to cross some portion of the desert to get back to Vacuo, but it wasn't as bad as before. "Can we wait till it's closer to sunset to walk back? I'm not trying to turn into pork roast."
The Vacuo heat reminded her of some unpleasant childhood memories, the first time she experienced it she had almost went into a panic attack – it was hot and heavy and hard to breathe… and she could have sworn she felt flames lick at her arms and legs.
It was a good thing her uncle was there to calm her down during her first visit to Vacuo all those years ago.
Qrow looked out at the hot sands and thought for a moment, "Nah, it's not that bad if we haul ass – it'll suck, but the sooner we get back, the sooner we can get that bath and a good meal."
"You're just thirsty for something to drink." Yang sighed as she took a sip of water from her canteen.
Both the hunters grabbed a cloak from their pack to wear in order to prevent over exposure to the sun while out in the desert.
"Quit you're yapping, it's only a 20 minute hike back into town, it'll be over before you know it, kid."
"If you call me kid one more time, I might be inclined to start calling you grandpa Qrow." Yang quipped back as they began their hike.
"Shut it."
A/N:
And there we have it as promised, chapter 5 by the end of the month. If you guys couldn't tell from Yang's sword, I'm a fan of Berserker (GRRRRIIIIIFFFFIIIITH!)
Usually I like to go through and give shout outs and responses to some of the reviews I received, but I'm running on a time crunch here. For those that are wondering about the timeline for the next release - I can't give any solid words on that. I'll be deployed downrange in the desert for some time. I'll still be writing in my off time for Gladiator, but it's uncertain what that time frame is looking like when it comes to posting chapters.
RedRenegade77 (I lied, quick shoutout) I see your predictions and I'll keep them in mind, I won't confirm nor deny anything until it happens :D
So bottom line, if you see this story hasn't been updated in quite some time, don't be alarmed as this story has not been dropped. I know it kind of sucks and I can tell you that this is not an ideal stopping place for me, especially after introducing Blake and Yang into the mix.
If anything, I'll spoil you all with some large releases when I get back stateside.
As usual, thank you all for the reviews and for reading the story. I hope you guys continue to enjoy Gladiator because I'm having a blast writing this up.
Cheers,
DevilRed